


Another Year Around the Sun

by Johanna_002



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Birthday, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29915208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Johanna_002/pseuds/Johanna_002
Summary: Despite all of the tribulations that life had thrown at her, she had stuck it out, and had pushed through what many would have thought was impossible. She felt so eternally grateful, and she was very happy with where she was, and she looked forward to seeing how the rest of her future would play out. (Red/Gloria)
Relationships: Gloria Mendoza/Galina "Red" Reznikov
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Another Year Around the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> This is for VeraRose19 on FF. Happy Birthday, sweet lady!

-01-

The day was going like any other Monday, customers coming in and out at a steady pace to get their morning coffee, and a treat to enjoy on their way to work. There was a lot of familiar faces that Galina had become well acquainted with through the years, and she chatted with them happily, as she prepared their order.

"How are you doing today, Galina?" Ms. Claudette asked her, as she approached the counter to pay for her usual coffee and breakfast.

Galina smiled at her. "I can't complain, how are you?"

"I'm hanging in there," Ms. Claudette assured her. "I ran into your daughter-in-law at the grocery store the other day."

"Lida?"

Ms. Claudette nodded. "She's getting big, baby should be here soon, no?"

"Not soon enough, she isn't due till the end of March," Galina clarified. She smiled as she thought about her son and his young wife. They were expecting their first baby, a little boy to be named Koyla, and she couldn't be more excited. A grandmother for the third time, and the news made her as joyous as it had when Yuri and his wife had had their two children, years earlier.

"Well congratulations, grandma," Ms. Claudette told her sincerely. "Where is Gloria, is she not in today? I haven't seen her around the last few days."

"Her daughter, Elena, just had a baby too," Galina told her. "A little girl. Her name is Isla. Gloria's been helping Elena and trying to get her settled in."

"No!" Ms. Claudette exclaimed in surprise. "I didn't realize her daughter was pregnant. You two are going to single-handily repopulate this entire community."

Galina rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "We definitely seem to have our hands full."

"I heard a rumor you were looking to expand your store, and open a second location across town?"

Galina handed Ms. Claudette her change. "Where did you hear that?"

"People talk."

"Well," Galina shrugged, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Right now, we're just taking it day by day. We're not making any concrete plans for anything right now."

"Hmm," Ms. Claudette didn't seem convinced with her answer, but didn't press her either as she put her wallet back into her purse. Flipping her wrist, she frowned at the time on her watch. "See you tomorrow, Galina, my first appointment is at 10:30."

"Have a good day."

"You, too."

Watching as she left, Galina shook her head softly and began to mindlessly organize the front of the store. Sometimes it amazed her just how personal her relationships with her regulars had become. When she and Dmitri had first opened this store over twenty years ago, she never would have imagined that it would still be standing.

Of course, so much had happened over the course of that time. Back then she'd been pregnant with Vasily and had been running on nothing but hopes and dreams. She'd lived in the basement of her in-laws' home, too poor to afford an apartment of their own, and when they had finally moved out, just a mere four weeks before Vasily had been born, it had been into a two-bedroom apartment. Her three sons had grown up to share a single cramped bedroom, and once the store was up and functional, Galina had made it her life's work to provide for her family as best as she was able to.

It had been challenging to make ends meet with a single income, and it was even more challenging to do it all alone. Dmitri was hardly any help. He didn't take care of his responsibilities when it came to their business, nor did he care to take care of his responsibilities around the home.

Life had been so frustrating back then, and so hard. It still made her mad when she thought about it, but she tried not dwell too long on what she couldn't change. It wasn't like Dmitri was around any longer to grate her nerves, or to fight with anyhow. He had passed away a little over five years ago, and despite how complicated and complex their relationship had been, she mourned for him in her own unique way. While they had never been star-crossed-lovers, he had been the person she'd built her life and family with, and he'd helped her become the person that she was today.

As she looked around her store, she felt very prideful and very happy with her life. Despite all of the tribulations that life had thrown at her, she had stuck it out, and had pushed through what many would have thought was impossible, and she felt so eternally grateful. She was very happy with where she was, and she looked forward to seeing how the rest of her future would play out.

The bell on the door jingled as it was pulled open, pulling her out of her thoughts.

_Speaking of my future,_ she thought, a smile pulling across her lips, as she recognized Gloria stepping through the threshold of the store with a small bouquet of pink roses in her hands.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in astonishment, meeting Gloria in the center of the store. "What is this?"

"These are for you," Gloria told her with a smile. "Happy Birthday, Honey."

Galina took the flower, her smile widening and her face feeling flushed at the gesture. "Why did you get me flowers?" she chastised her lightly. "I have a whole rose garden at home."

"Every woman deserves flowers on her birthday."

Galina shook her head, reaching for the card.

_"Happy Birthday, Honey. I love you so, so much.  
_ _You are my person, & my most favorite human on  
_ _This planet. I couldn't imagine life without you  
_ _& I wouldn't want to. I'm so grateful to have you  
and know you. I love you!_

_P.S- My fav thing about you, is that you'll always  
_ _be older than me! XOX"_

"Gloria!" Galina smacked her arm playfully, reading the last sentence over again.

Gloria pecked her lips softly. "You love me."

"I love you," Galina agreed. "I love you a little less than I did five minutes ago, but—"

"But nothing," Gloria rolled her eyes, wrapping an arm around her waist. She inhaled the vanilla scent of her head and kissed her forehead softly. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, although I don't really know why when you write things like this into my birthday cards." She pulled away from the embrace and walked around the counter so that she could set the flowers down for her customers to enjoy. "How are Elena and the baby?"

"Ohh!" Gloria cooed excitedly, pulling out her phone so that she could show off her new, perfect granddaughter. "Elena is okay, she's such a good mom already. I'm so proud of her." She swiped her finger across her phone, pulling up a picture of baby Isla. "This was from last night."

"Gloria," Galina said her name dramatically, rolling her eyes as she looked at the picture of 4-day-old Isla in a lilac tutu and a bow on her head. "This baby isn't even a week old and you're dressing up like she's a doll."

"She is a doll," Gloria told her with a laugh, swiping her finger through the other pictures she'd taken of her granddaughter. Already she had like 300.

"She's beautiful," Galina told her sincerely, stroking her index finger over the baby's photo. "I can't wait to meet her."

"You're going to love her," Gloria promised. "And she's going to love you. I can't wait to see her, and baby Koyla grow up together, and watch you all bake together. Lida has been blowing up Elena's phone wanting to know what labor is going to be like, and should she change her birth plan to ask for an epidural."

Galina threw her head back laughing. "I'm so glad they have been able to get close and go through this pregnancy together. It can always be a little bit scary to have your first, especially when you have no friends to ask questions to. They'll be a big support to each other. If I would have had a friend like that all those years ago, it would have made things more bearable."

"That's very true," Gloria agreed. "I know I have always been thankful to have you in my corner. I wouldn't have made it through my pregnancy without you," Gloria told her truthfully, thinking back nearly 15 years ago when they had met, and she'd been pregnant with her youngest son, Benny.

It had been a very tumultuous time. She'd been in a toxic relationship and struggling to make ends meet. It was what had led her to this little store all those years ago to answer the help-wanted sign she'd seen in the window.

Galina hadn't known then that hiring Gloria would turn out to be the best decision she would ever make. With one decision she had changed both of their lives for the better. All of their time working together, bonding, talking about motherhood, and their respective back stories and lives, and the happenings of what was going on in their personal lives back at home, they'd developed a very close, nearly inseparable friendship.

However, it hadn't been until this last year that their friendship had turned into something romantic, and as awkward and surprising as it had been for both of them to realize how strongly they felt for one another, nothing had ever felt as right or as natural as the two of them together.

"The reason that I'm here," Gloria said, "besides coffee of course," she poured herself a large cup and then poured in her sugar and creamer, watching as the dark, black liquid turned into a soft caramel color. Galina got onto her all the time, telling her that she might as well just drink the creamer and sugar straight and leave the coffee alone. "Is because I had surprise plans for your birthday."

"You did?"

"Yes."

"I'm surprised you were able to keep them a secret this long," Galina laughed. "Normally you can't keep a secret for longer than an hour."

"I know," Gloria rolled her eyes. "It's my one flaw as a human-being."

Galina scoffed.

"Anyway," Glories stirred her sugary coffee around in her cup. "I wanted to take you on a trip, out of town for the weekend. Just me, you, the middle of nowhere… champagne, maybe some vodka and orange juice… lots of sex."

Galina felt her face heat up at the suggestion, her eyes widening at how forth-wright Gloria was with her hopes.

"But since the baby is here, I feel I need to stay here incase Elena needs me. I know she probably doesn't, but I would feel better to be close by just in case. Also, Julio has a soccer tournament, and I got my weekends confused. I never miss any of his games unless I have to. You know that."

"I know."

"Lida is due at the end of the month; I know you're going to want stick close by just in case she goes into labor. I don't have details yet, but Ceci wants me to go to Manhattan to help her move. We both have a lot going on, can we agree?"

"We agree," Galina laughed. Clearly Gloria had given this conversation a lot of thought.

"So, instead of the romantic getaway I had plan for this weekend, I'd like to treat you to dinner, champagne… or vodka and orange juice, your pick… and lots of fun sex. Then, we can look at a calendar and maybe plan something a few months from now, maybe June around our anniversary?"

"Sure."

"Okay," Gloria smiled. She moved closer, taking Galina's face in one hand and bringing their lips together in a kiss. "I have some calls to make and some meetings to schedule, you need to decide what you want to do about the second location."

"Oh, yea, speaking of, Ms. Claudette asked me about it. She said she heard gossip that we were looking to expand."

"Well…" Gloria shrugged, "Your kind of a celebrity around here, and these people seem to think they have a personal stock in this store, so I'm sure they'll talk. There's no rush, but we can't do anything until you sit down and make some decisions. Do you want to open a second location? Do you plan on running both? What if we just give this place a complete makeover?"

"I don't know," Galina shook her head. "I don't know what I want to do. Am I not too old to be opening another business in my 50's, when this one has only become steady and profitable in the last several years? What happens if I lose everything? There would be times, every week, I was sure the bank would be at my door with a foreclosure."

"But they weren't," Gloria reminded her. "You made it, you're here. You're living the _American Dream._ Besides, age is just a number."

"This is stressing me out as much as it did when I bought my house."

"I remember, almost five years listening to you try to navigate that and make up your mind."

Gloria smiled as she rubbed her lower back affectionately. "I'll help you where I can, okay? The same way I always have."

"I know," Galina leaned into her. "What would I do without you?"

"Be miserable?" Gloria guessed correctly. "We'll just take it day by day, Galina. The same way we always have. This is the start of a new decade for you, a personal new year, if you will. I feel like you still a lot of room for growth and change, and I can't wait to see what you do with it."


End file.
